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INSIGHT: How F1 TV’s ever-evolving presenter, pundit and production team take fans to the heart of the action
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Formula 1 drivers thrill fans 24 weekends of the year through their spectacular skills, heart-stopping wheel-to-wheel battles and relentless quests for glory. But none of these moments would be captured, analysed or written into the history books without the broadcasters who follow them every step of the way, including F1’s very own offering: F1 TV. In a world of constantly developing technology and growing fan expectation, we hear from some of the operation’s presenters, pundits and producers for a behind-the-scenes account of what it takes to tell the sport’s story to the world…
Putting on a show
Launched in 2018, F1 TV is an over-the-top streaming service that gives fans (in selected countries) the chance to follow every race weekend from start to finish, spanning Free Practice, Qualifying and the Grand Prix itself – accompanied by live pre- and post-session shows.
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There’s also access to full race replays, exclusive documentaries, features and analysis, and an enormous archive going back decades, with content catering for those who have long followed the sport but also newcomers getting up to speed with the ins and outs of F1.
Overseeing the live F1 TV output is established Broadcast Media Product Executive Producer Anthony Ellis, who splits his time between F1’s temporary circuit-based Event Technical Centre and its permanent Media & Technology Centre located in the English town of Biggin Hill (more on that later).
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In his own words, Ellis’ main responsibilities are to make sure that everyone on the team – whether they are at the track or back at base – “talks to one another, avoids any pinch points or bottlenecks, and gets what they set out to do onto fans’ screens”.
“I will look at the technical infrastructure, the logistics, who’s going to be on-site at the track, the presenting team we’ll have out there, the camera crews, the audio crews – basically liaising with them and making sure that everything’s coming together,” begins Ellis.
“F1 TV is well-primed because we’ve got the International Feed sitting next to us at Biggin Hill,” he continues, referring to the raw track footage that is shared with more than 100 broadcasters worldwide. “We know the feed very well as our team have worked on it for years. We then lay our commentary over it, we lay our graphics over it, and we lay our product over it.
“We also account for whatever the audience is. F1 TV goes out to an array of people, to many, many regions around the world, and it’s got to engage with many, many different kinds of fans – from the hardcore to the casual.”
This means supplementing the on-track action with carefully crafted features and expert insight on topics ranging from race strategy to technical developments – ensuring regular viewers are well served while newcomers are educated and taken on a journey.
F1 TV goes out to an array of people, to many, many regions around the world, and it’s got to engage with many, many different kinds of fans.
Anthony Ellis
“It’s about breaking down stories,” Ellis stresses. “We want to make the stories accessible. F1 is incredibly complex, so we need to make sure that it’s understandable – and, when there’s an overtake or a magic moment, we’ve got to make it look epic on TV.”
Presenting the product
Lead Presenter Laura Winter is central to F1 TV’s approach and tone – the first person viewers see and hear when weekend shows go live, and often accompanied by the likes of ex-F1 driver Jolyon Palmer, ex-IndyCar racer James Hinchcliffe, former F1 strategist Ruth Buscombe and F1 correspondent Lawrence Barretto.
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“Your job is to steer the ship,” says Winter, when discussing her wide-ranging role. “I ask our pundits questions, throw to an interview and keep the conversations moving. I have to know when to let it breathe for a bit, and let the guys have a bit of a debate, but then when to bring it back and keep the time.
“Our race shows are so intense with everything that’s going on, while moving from the paddock to the pit lane and the grid. Being on the grid before a race is such an exciting experience. Combined, it’s the biggest adrenaline rush in sports broadcasting.”
An English graduate from Loughborough University, Winter started her media career in rowing and soon built up an impressive portfolio hosting and commentating on a variety of sports, all leading up to her F1 TV debut in 2020.
Lead Presenter Winter “steers the ship” during F1 TV shows
In keeping with Ellis’ comments above, Winter’s aim is to make viewers feel instantly at home, break down the key aspects of a race weekend and have fun along the way – taking plenty of inspiration from two icons of British broadcasting.
“Clare Balding, for me, is the best multi-sport presenter you’ll ever see,” says Winter. “She makes you feel like you’re her mate and she’s having a chat with you about sport down the pub, which is exactly how I think sports broadcasting should be. It should be really colloquial and familiar and inclusive like that.
“I also absolutely love Davina McCall. She’s a real powerhouse. She’s overcome a huge amount personally and is one of the warmest, kindest presenters. You feel like you know her, and that’s a real trait to have. You trust them, you get to know them, and it’s like they’re sitting on the sofa with you.”
Winter makes it sound easy, but there’s plenty of preparation and planning that goes into what comes across as an effortless, flowing broadcast, with homework between races something she – and the rest of the F1 TV crew – takes very seriously.
“Pre-weekend, I’ll make notes of the headlines and talking points, and kind of prepare my Thursday,” she explains. “Generally, I’m just keeping on top of all the news, any breaking news, and preparing for any interviews I’ve got.
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“I’ll find a balance of speaking to the pundits, our commentator Alex Jacques, and to personnel in the paddock, and then having a look online to see what the general gist and vibe of the weekend is, and the flow and the talking points.
“F1.com’s live blog on a Thursday is fantastic for keeping up to date with all the news at the start of a weekend. The practice debriefs are really useful as well – somebody’s obviously crunching all that data and then Lawrence does a great job of turning it around for us.
“I also speak a lot to my producer, Joanna Barzycki, about what storylines are going to dominate the next show we’ve got, what we want to pick up on, what’s really important to include and what’s less important or can be saved for a show further down the line – it’s kind of an editorial process, and very collaborative.”
The truth of the matter
Speaking of the editorial process, that’s where F1 Correspondent and Presenter Barretto comes into his own – the experienced scribe touring the paddock every weekend to follow up on existing stories, sniff out new ones and feed it all back to the team.
F1 journalist Barretto is used to hunting down stories and catching up with drivers
Barretto got his break when he entered the Bridgestone e-reporter competition – and earned the chance to cover a Grand Prix – while studying at university, with that debut being followed by full-time stints at BBC Sport, motorsport publication Autosport and now F1.
“The idea is that I’ll try and keep the programming as up to date as best I can with what’s going on in the paddock, and then try to find out details we need to go and explore or expand on stories,” says Barretto, who can also be heard conducting media pen interviews and driver parade chats, before sharing how the expectation around his job has grown.
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“I can’t put a time frame on it, but when you interact with fans, whether that’s meeting them in public at racetracks or if they get in touch with you on social media, the level of question they’re after has definitely changed – the devil is in the detail.
“A lot more they want to know why, what is the real truth, and is what we see the reality? Fans are definitely more knowledgeable than they’ve ever been, so the challenge for us is to go and find out even more information about why something really happened, and then talk to as many people as we can to get the best detail.
“I think what we can do is try and help pinpoint the key stories and really pull them out. You have to work much harder from a research perspective, to have an idea of where it’s going, and to make sure you follow an evolving story. Then, every time you’re on air, you’ve hopefully got a little bit more.”
When you interact with fans, whether that’s at racetracks or on social media, the level of question they’re after has definitely changed – the devil is in the detail.
Lawrence Barretto
It’s worth noting, though, that digging for information and presenting what’s been unearthed can, on occasion, lead to side effects – especially in an age where fans are more attached to their favourite drivers than ever before, and social media provides a platform for all kinds of reactions to be shared.
“When I say something or report something, it’s what I understand is happening, so it’s never really an opinion of what I think or what I want to happen – it’s based on me talking to people and what they’ve told me,” Barretto continues.
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“Sergio Perez is probably quite a good example. Over the course of last year, as it became increasingly clear that maybe Checo wouldn’t be around [beyond the 2024 season], his fan base was obviously disappointed, as you would expect, with the prospect of him losing his seat.
“Every time I reported something that suggested he might not be around, there was real disappointment from the fans. I’m not saying it because I don’t want him to be around, I’m just saying that’s the way it’s going from what people are telling me.
“I think that comes a little bit from F1 and the personalities growing so much. People are able to identify with drivers or team bosses much more, and they feel much closer to the people in the sport, because of the insight we get through broadcasts like ours and social media. I think that can lead to certain stories bringing out a bit more of an emotional reaction.”
My Untold Story - Lawrence Barretto
Calling the shots
Slotting between Winter’s presenting and Barretto’s reporting duties is another crucial part of the F1 TV operation – that being commentary, led by the highly respected Alex Jacques and supported by personalities such as Palmer and Hinchcliffe.
“My job is to inform the viewer what is happening in real time – identifying cars, calling overtakes, and leading the broadcast from the titles to the end of the podium,” says Jacques, who also covered the F2 and F3 feeder categories for several years. “When the action is unrelenting, it’s an adrenaline rush like nothing else in broadcasting.
“The narrative part involves distilling the elements of each driver and team’s weekend into short segments and aiming to tell that story in an interesting and engaging way to a broad audience. This is aided by my co-commentators telling us why the action is happening whilst they weave in their personal experience to illustrate points.
“In terms of preparation, I’ll prepare a tonne of notes and then break that down to a few pages of A4. Sometimes this changes depending on where we are – for example, Monaco (with 78 laps in the race and the risk of a Safety Car or red flag) has slightly more bullet points for each driver. In truth, I have about fifty tabs open on my laptop researching things from Thursday to Sunday!”
As F1 TV’s main commentator, Jacques’ voice is heard in living rooms all over the world
Like Winter, there were a couple of standout early-life inspirations for Jacques, whose voice has appeared in the official F1 video games and Netflix hit Drive to Survive in recent seasons, as well as earning him the ‘Commentator of the Year’ accolade at the 2022 Broadcast Sports Awards.
“Murray Walker had a massive impact on me wanting to be a motorsport commentator,” says Jacques of his hero, who covered F1 from the mid-1970s to the early-2000s with British broadcasters the BBC and ITV. “His ability to make the sport accessible to such a wide audience was incredible.
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“Everyone talks about the fun mistakes, but his peaks are some of the best ever sports broadcasting moments. He had a peerless ability to convey information with such clarity and emotion. Also, his attitude to emphasise the positive and not to score points or punch down from his position of power was hugely instructive.
“Outside of motorsport, I also marvelled at how Barry Davies could broadcast so many sports at such a high level. His economy of words to impact ratio was another great lesson; he was such a classy narrative-led commentator with an amazing turn of phrase.”
Two worlds in one
Circling back to Ellis’ earlier point, Jacques will sometimes be commentating from a dedicated broadcasting box at a circuit while his partner is at F1’s state-of-the-art Media & Technology Centre in the UK, or vice versa – underlining the importance of tip-top technology, effective communication and first-class teamwork.
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F1 previously sent its entire broadcasting operation around the world, but since 2020, the International Feed and F1 TV’s shows have been produced from Biggin Hill, meaning a significant reduction in the number of staff and the amount of equipment needed at the trackside.
Each weekend, some 500 terabytes of data shoot from the Event Technical Centre to the M&TC with a ‘delay’ of no more than 250 milliseconds, so whether it’s Winter’s presenting, Barretto’s interviewing or Jacques’ commentary, fans enjoy a seamless show.
“I think the team do an exceptional job,” Ellis says of the split set-up. “That’s the broadcast engineering team combined with with floor managers, producers, camera operators, audio operators and more. Everything is checked and tested multiple times; there’s such a high level of due diligence to make sure that there are no mistakes.
“Then we’ll look at the parameters of what we can do in any given show, which will roll into actually going live and working in an environment where we’re communicating with the people who are on the ground, using a hierarchy of voices to filter what information is going through to them.
“Generally, the only people the presenters, pundits and commentators can hear is either the director or the producer. We don’t want a barrage of voices going through the channels; we want to make sure that they can only hear what’s important to them at the right time – that’s the same for the camera operators, the same for the audio operators.
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“The whole team on the ground has to fluidly move as one, being directed from the gallery at Biggin Hill. Then there’s the audio being mixed on top of the feed, the graphics being laid on top of it, the VTs (video tapes) being put on top of it. It all comes together very smoothly, but probably seems quite busy in the gallery when it’s going on!”
The future of broadcasting
A well-oiled and polished machine then, but that does not mean the background F1 TV crew, nor Winter, Barretto and Jacques, ever stand still – with all areas of the operation constantly looking at ways to learn, evolve and hone their craft for the benefit of the product.
“With F1, every day is a school day,” says Winter. “The sport develops so quickly, it moves so quickly, and there’s always something new to learn with how the cars operate or how the cars work. I think that’s crucial, especially going into 2026 and the new regulations.
“In terms of the role of a presenter or a pundit, I think that will continue to be a key one, making sure that you are as engaged and warm and inclusive to new fans [as possible] and the new demographic of the sport as well.”
Jacques agrees, stating: “I think genres will continue to blur. You’ve only got to look at podcasting’s influence on the tone and warmth of sports broadcasting to see how drastically things can change quickly. We’re very lucky with F1 TV that we have so many people with direct experience of their subject area who can bring it alive in a warm way.”
With F1, every day is a school day. The sport develops so quickly, it moves so quickly, and there’s always something new to learn.
Laura Winter
Barretto, meanwhile, reckons the aforementioned passion and expectation shown by fans at racetracks and on social media platforms will only grow stronger, noting a collective desire to continually “deliver for them”.
“I think the thing that will really change over the next couple of years is the level of engagement that us as a broadcasting team or the presenting team will have with fans who watch F1 TV, but also personnel within the paddock,” he says.
“More people are watching F1, and more people are feeling confident enough to talk about F1, that they want to engage in that conversation, they want to build that conversation – and, actually, they want to ask tougher questions about what is going on.”
“From the perspective of those within F1 and the protagonists, I think they’ll also want to be more engaged to go and tell their own stories, and they’ll hopefully want to give more details and answer the questions that fans have for them,” he adds, before signing off with a smile. “Essentially, we’ll all have to work even harder!”
Want to learn more about F1 TV and the viewing options in your region ahead of the 2025 season? Visit the official website.
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